Five Minutes in an Airlock
by roofietoof
Summary: The only thing worse than an uncomfortable silence is when people start to talk.


They had only caught the last part of the conversation, but apparently the previous parts didn't go all that well because it ended with Starbuck throwing a screwdriver at Apollo and him calling her a 'frakking lunatic'.

The ride back to Galactica from the Virgon Express had been uneventful, just six people quietly sitting in a shuttle that was slowly filling up with seething anger.

And now they waited the requisite five minutes in an airlock allotted for decompression before they could step back onto their ship. Just the six of them: the CAG, his Lead Pilot and four innocent bystanders, terrified to be caught in the middle of whatever it was that was going on between the first two.

Thirty seconds passed in uncomfortable silence. Then forty. Then Apollo started to talk, which made them long for the moments before that they had spent in uncomfortable silence.

"You're wrong, you know." He said looking straight ahead at the airlock door.

Starbuck also looked straight ahead.

The two of them were the only people _not_ looking at each other. Tyrol looked at Cally, who looked at Hammerhead, who looked at Racetrack, who looked at Apollo as he continued talking.

"I never thought that way about you."

"Whatever." Starbuck gritted through her teeth.

"You can't possibly think that you can hold this against me for the rest of my life."

"As a matter of fact I think I can and even if I can't, I'm not above giving it a try, so drop it!" Her voice slowly rising as she spoke.

"Can I just say one thing?" Apollo asked in the most even voice they had ever heard.

"Actually, I think it's best for your own health and safety that you not say _anything_ right now." She replied.

Cally's eyes got wide and Racetrack desperately tried to stifle a laugh at Starbuck so blatantly threatening a superior officer.

He turned to look at her as she continued to look straight ahead. "I'll tell you this, just so it will have been said." He turned to look back at the door as he spoke. "There isn't anything in the world that I love as much as you." He paused again. "Just so you know."

He turned back to look at her, and the other four heads turned to look in her direction as well. But they didn't see the reaction you would expect from an average woman at such a declaration. However they all knew that Starbuck was _not _an average woman.

"That's sweet." She smiled to herself,still looking at the closed hatch. "What the HELL is the matter with you!" She screamed, finally turning to look at him.

Definitely _not _the reaction he was going for. "Wait a minute. You said-."

"First of all, I'm mad at you. And don't just think you can make that go away by what you just said. And second of all…. What the hell is the matter with you!"

"I don't-." Apollo gulped.

"Stupid frakking idiot." She cursed under her breath, cutting him off.

"Wait a minute. You said you were tired of me thinking of you as my dirty little secret. Which- by the way- I never did. You said you wanted me to 'frak the regs' and take the next step. So to prove to you how much I love you, I am taking the next step."

"And this is the next step?" She screamed as her eyes got incredibly wide.

"You said you were ready for people to know."

"Yeah, Lee. _People._ Like your father, and the President, and Helo, and maybe that slimy bastard Baltar so that he'd stop leering at me. I didn't want Tyrol to know, or Racetrack, or Hammerhead, or Cally." She stopped. "Well, Cally already knew, actually."

"Excuse me?" Apollo stared at the young specialist.

"Sorry, Captain." Cally chewed on her lip. "You gotta learn to keep the supply closet locked if you're gonna do that kind of stuff."

The other three burst into giggles.

Apollo looked back at Starbuck exasperated. "So you didn't want _everybody _to know."

"Not _yet._"

"Kara. You didn't think this was something that you could have mentioned BEFORE?" he screamed at her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you would LOSE YOUR FRAKKING MIND so early in our relationship."

"Yeah, that usually takes at least a couple of months with her." Hammerhead whispered.

Starbuck turned to look at him."Hey, Palladino. I'm just itching to hit somebody. I thought it was gonna be him." She pointed at Apollo. "But keep it up and I might change my mind."

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"So I just made a total fool of myself for nothing." He whispered looking defeatedly at the floor.

She softened and reached out with her hand to lift his chin up. "Yeah, but you're so good at it." She smiled. "And it wasn't for nothing." She whispered as he looked up at her.

"Hey! Wait a minute." He exclaimed with hope in his eyes. "Just cause the people here know about it doesn't mean that everyone has to."

"Get real, Lee. Racetrack is in the room. The whole ship will know in twenty minutes."

"Hey!" Racetrack shouted defensively.

"Oh, please." Starbuck said, looking pointedly at her.

"So we can't stop it." Apollo said matter-of-factly.

"Nope."

"Would you want to if we could?" He asked eyeing her.

"Nope." She smiled stepping towards him. "What I should do is beat the ever-loving crap out of you for letting this leak out." She said wrapping her arms around his neck as he kissed her forehead.

"That's not necessary." Tyrol hesitantly interjected.

"I know." Starbuck sighed dreamily as Apollo grinned at her.

"No. I mean it's not necessary because everybody already knew."

"WHAT!" They both exclaimed, finally taking their eyes off each other.

"We already knew." Racetrack replied.

"Cally." Starbuck hissed, looking at her. "So help me gods, if you said anything-."

"I didn't say anything about the supply closet." Cally answered. "Hardest damn thing I've ever had to do, but I kept my mouth shut."

"Then how?"

"Are you kidding?" Tyrol said incredulously. "It's kind of obvious. And nobody told us. I guess it's just sort of widely _known_."

"So is there _anybody_ on the ship who didn't know that we were in love?" Apollo asked.

"Well. How long have you been in love?" Hammerhead replied.

"About five weeks." Starbuck answered.

"Apparently the two of you were the only ones." Tyrol continued to explain as Apollo and Starbuck looked at him dumbfounded. "We all knew you were in love _long_ before that."

"Wait a second." Racetrack said. "You two have only been together for five _weeks_?"

"Yeah." Apollo answered.

"Well, what was that thing between the two of you in the hangar deck after Colonial Day?"

"A fight." Starbuck stated matter-of-factly.

"Not the way I heard about it." Racetrack giggled, looking at her feet.

"And the two of you slept next to each other on Kobol." Tyrol pointed out.

"You slept next to Zarek." Apollo answered defensively. "You frakking _him_?"

"No. But the Old Man told me to keep a gun trained on him at all times. What's your excuse?"

Starbuck bit her lip. "He was warm."

They were all startled by another voice over the intercom. "Okay, guys. Just ten more seconds."

"So everyone knows." Starbuck said looking at Apollo.

"Apparently. And there's no take-backs." He answered as she smiled back at him.

"So what do you wanna do now?" she winked.

"I'm free for the next six hours." He replied.

"Hmph." She turned back to the hatch. "Oh, look. The door's opening."

-finis

P.S.- I'm from coastal Alabama. I'm okay and everyone I love is okay. But when you read this please pray for my neighbors in Louisiana and Mississippi.


End file.
